Lighthouse
by forest owl princess
Summary: What if Rinoa had ended up at the orphanage with the rest of the gang? My take on what might have happened if Squall, Seifer, and everyone else had met 'the princess' as kids and how they grow together. SquallxRinoa
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone, a long time fan of FF8 and lurker of the stories on here. I've been reading FF8 fanfiction like crazy lately and you've inspired me to start writing some of my own. Please be gentle, this is my first time since a kid attempting to write a story so forgive me if this ends up sucking. Not sure if this will become part of a bigger story arc idea I've got in head or just its own thing. Thanks for taking the time to read. :)

**Lighthouse**

_Chapter 1_

"You think she's dead?!"

"You dummy! She's still breathing, how can she be dead?"

"Oh! Maybeee she's a princess and can't wake up until a prince kisses her!"

"Really, Selphie? You are just as bad as Zell!"

Three curious faces peered over a small, raven haired girl lying in bed. The girl's shiny hair was tangled and her pale skin was slightly flushed. As her large eyes flitted open and focused on her surroundings, confusion set in.

"Where...where am I?" She asked slowly, her mind still hazy.

"We were hoping you could tell us, Princess." A blonde haired boy said to her from across the room. He stood against the wall away from the other children. The girl suddenly realized, not only was she surrounded by strange children, but she was not in her own bed nor her own house for that matter. She was, in fact, lying in a small bed within a row of other similar sized beds in a room with walls made of stone. She looked at the faces surrounding her. All were children who looked to be about her age. There was another blonde haired boy, shorter and scrawnier than the one who stood by the wall. He had spikey hair with kind blue eyes. To her left was a tiny girl who looked at her with excited, green eyes and who had short auburn hair that flipped out at the ends. Behind her stood a tall blonde haired girl who wore a worried look behind her glasses.

"See, Seifer thinks she's a princess too!" The auburn haired girl exclaimed, her eyes widening.

The boy by the wall waved a dismissive hand in the air, "Tch, yeah right! She needed a name and since she hasn't told us hers yet, I gave her one that fits. Right, Cry Baby Zell?"

The boy by her bed bristled, then puffed his chest out. "I am NOT a cry baby, Seifer! Stop calling me that!"

"Actually, Zelly, you kind of are..." the exciteable auburn haired girl agreed sadly.

"Will you guys cut it out!" The tall blonde girl said narrowing her cool blue eyes at the other children. Then, turning back to the newcomer, she softened her expression slightly, "Sorry about them, why don't you tell us your name?"

"My name's Rinoa...I...really don't know how I got here. Um what is this place?" She asked confused.

"Hi Rinoa, I'm Quistis. This is Selphie, Zell, and that's Seifer over there. You're in an orphanage. Matron and Cid take care of all of us. They are very nice. It's late now but you'll meet them in the morning. We have scheduled lessons and activites and-HEY!" Quistis was interrupted by Zell, as he and Seifer rolled into her, a tangled mess of limbs and insults.

"Bet you did that on purpose you chicken wuss! Figures, running to a girl for help." Seifer taunted as he seperated himself from the other blonde haired boy and dusted himself off.

"SCUSE ME?!" Zell was about to launch himself at Seifer once more when he was haulted by the collar of his shirt. Behind him, holding onto his collar, was a tall boy with wavy brown hair tied back into a low ponytail. "Irvine! Get off me!" Zell cried out.

Oblivious to what was going on around her, Rinoa absent mindedly left the other children and let what Quistis had told her sink in. A horrible realization hit her as memories of the last few weeks came flooding back to her. The coldness of her father, his distance since her mother's funeral. She bit her lip. _'He didn't want me anymore so he dropped me off here. My mom's dead. My dad doesn't even care I exist. I'm all alone.' _ A small cry escaped lips as her knees went weak and her body sunk to the floor. Rinoa hugged her knees to her chest, hung her head down, and let herself cry deep, heaving sobs. Some time had passed and the dark haired girl's crying fit had eventually subsided to a few sniffles here and there.

"Are you done?" A cold voice from across the room said.

Rinoa's head shot up in surprise. She had thought she was alone. The first thing she noticed was she had somehow ended up in another room of the orphanage and the second was a pair blue-grey eyes studying her from across the room. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, unsure of what to say. The boy stood up and walked towards her, his expression intense as he never broke eye contact with her. He paused as he stood right above her, looking deep into her dark, red rimmed eyes. Rinoa held her breath as she stared up into his stormy gaze, unable to move. The brown haired boy with messy hair dropped something right beside Rinoa, causing her to jump and look away from his mesmerising eyes. A box of tissues sat beside her. An awkward silence passed as she stared at the box, dumbfounded. Rinoa turned back to the boy to say thank you, but found that he had already started walking away.

"Err..thank you..." she called out to him, shyly.

"...whatever." Was the reply she heard him mutter in response.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again! I found this chapter easier to write than my previous one. I'm hoping to delve into more character interaction in the next few chapters but wanted to set up a bit of a timeline and a little back story to make things less confusing. This may stray (or possibly already has) from the game's timeline for the orphanage so I apologize but I changed it to fit the idea for the story I have in my head. If you have any questions (that I don't plan on addressing in future chapters) feel free to shoot me a pm. As always, thanks for reading.

**Lighthouse**

_Chapter 2_

"Hey hey hey hey HEEYYYYY! Rise and shine sleepy head!" A cheerful voice rang out. Rinoa groggily lifted her head from her pillow to be greeted by a pair of bright green eyes staring at her intently mere inches from her own. "Ugh, Selphie! Go away!" Rinoa whined into her pillow, "Gimme five more minutes, please."

With surprising strength the auburn haired girl pulled Rinoa's pillow from underneath her. "Nope! You've been here three weeks, Rinoa, and you're always the last one up. I've been easy on you because you were new but Quisty says I shouldn't do that anymore and that you should correct things like this early before they become habit and blah blah blah."

"Whaa?" Rinoa blinked and stared at Selphie blankly. Rinoa knew Quistis was bossy from her short time here but this was just crazy. Cid and Matron did turn out to be nice people as well but the way they had everything planned and coordinated, one would think they were running a boot camp rather than an orphanage.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what I said too. All I know is it's my job...to...get...you...UP!" Selphie's words were strained as she proceeded to tug at the blanket Rinoa had wrapped herself up in. With one final pull she managed to unroll the stubborn 'princess' out of her self-made cocoon. Rinoa rolled off of the bed and landed onto the floor with a thud. She shot the green eyed girl a dark glare.

Selphie ran over to the girl on the ground and extended her hand. "Sorry 'bout that." She said sheepishly, "You should hurry up and get changed and grab some breakfast before it's cold. First lesson starts in 0700 hours!" The sprightly girl grabbed the claps of her green overalls, gave Rinoa a grin, and ran off to join the other children.

Rinoa emerged a few minutes later, dressed in a simple white cotton dress. However she had ended up here, the details were still fuzzy in her mind, she had arrived at the orphanage with a few of her own possessions which she was grateful for. Most of the other children were already finished with breakfast and tasked to their own clean up duties. Zell was still sitting at the table, stuffing his face with as many eggs as he could fit in. He glanced up at Rinoa and smiled awkwardly. "Mo'nin," He began to say but was immediately admonished by Quistis to not to talk with his mouth full. Rinoa giggled, smiling sympathetically at the goofy boy and helped herself to what was left of breakfast.

Once breakfast was over and everything was cleaned up, the children took their places on the floor waiting for Matron to begin the lesson. Rinoa snuck a peek at the brooding boy named Squall. He hadn't initiated any sort of contact with her since their first encounter. Squall was just like that, everyone had told her, and seemed surprised that he had even taken the time to acknowledge her presence. Quistis, in particular, seemed the most off put by the out of character gesture he had shown Rinoa. Going as far as to ask the girl if she was telling the truth. Rinoa pouted slightly at the memory of the accusation. Why would she lie about something so silly? _'There's a caring person underneath his meaness.' Rinoa thought to herself, 'Why would he have done that if he was just a jerk? I'm going to be his friend and everyone will see that they are wrong about him!' She decided firmly._ She didn't tell anyone, but she had kept the tissue box he had given her. Rinoa kept it tucked away under her bed and had decided she would fill it with special things, like a memory box. Just then, Squall caught her staring. For a moment he didn't look so angry, just surprised and curious even. Rinoa smiled at him warmly, his expression lingered but then darkened as he turned away from her. As she dropped her gaze from him, Rinoa thought she saw Quistis shake her head at her out of the corner of her eye. _'Hmph let them doubt me. I know when someone ACTUALLY doesn't care. I've lived with my father after all.' She thought sadly to herself as she hugged her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them, thoughtfully._

"Good morning, children." Matron's melodic voice called out. The children of the orphanage all stopped what they were doing and looked up to their beloved Matron. Though she dressed plainly, it was easy to see that she was a naturally beautiful woman both inside and out. Her smile glowed as she spoke kindly, "I know a lot of things have changed over the last few months and it may seem like Cid and I are just being mean, but we only have your best interests at heart. We are thinking of your futures and we thank you for being so good and patient with us during this time. I know it must be hard and confusing. Big changes are ahead of us but I know you are all brave and strong little boys and girls. Now, where did we leave off in our last lesson?" A blonde pigtailed girl with glasses rose her hand diligently. "Ah, yes my dear Quistis, I knew you would remember." Matron smiled sweetly, causing Quistis to blush in delight.

As Quistis began to recite where their last lesson had ended, Rinoa was lost in her own thoughts, _'Big changes? What could that possibly mean? So things hadn't always been so strict here? What was it that Cid and Matron were preparing them for?'_ She knew from her father being in the military about the Sorceress War and the destruction it had caused in it's wake. Rinoa looked around her for a moment and realized sadly that the orphanage had so many children in it because they all had lost their parents in the war. Once again, she felt completely out of place and wondered if the other children would be mad at her if they knew she still had one parent alive. _'I don't really belong anywhere...' Rinoa thought again to herself sadly._ She hastily brushed away tears that had started to form at the corners of her eyes, unaware that Squall had caught the act from across the room. Rinoa also failed to notice his expression had changed as well, maybe just maybe, to one of kindly concern.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey all! Thank you very much for the reviews, follows, and even favorites. It means a lot to me. There is a decent amount of Seifer in this chapter. I've been re-watching LOST on and off and find that the character Sawyer reminds me a good deal of Seifer so you may see that play out a bit in this story. There will be more Squall and Rinoa interactions in the coming chapters, you'll see how at the end of this one. Until next time! :)

**Lighthouse**

_Chapter 3_

It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon and the children of the orphanage were separated into 3 small groups on the beach, behind the stone cottage. Each group was given 2 sets of wooden swords to spar with and would rotate partners once Cid yelled out the appropriate command. It was the last lesson of the day and was also Rinoa's least favorite activity at the orphanage. Rinoa had never been particularly athletic, despite the numerous programs she had begged her parents to enroll her in. She had given ice skating, ballet, and gymnastics all a try but ended up injuring and making a fool of herself in one form or another and wouldn't enroll the next season. The girl was stubborn, always trying her hardest and stuck it out until the season had ended. Rinoa was particularly apprehensive about today's lesson because somehow Seifer and Squall had ended up in her sparring group. Both boys were strong fighters and it was well known they had formed a not always friendly rivalry against one another. Silence had fallen over the children as they held their breath waiting for the next fight to begin.

Squall and Seifer stood a few feet away from each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Mischief gleamed in Seifer's emerald eyes as he smirked and lazily drew the wooden sword up, resting it on his shoulder. With his other free hand, he beckoned towards Squall. The messy haired boy's fighting stance couldn't be more different from the blonde's. Squall stood with both hands tightly gripped around the sword and his feet were hip width apart. Where the one boy was over-confident and showy, the other was alert and stoic. At Seifer's taunt, Squall scowled and slightly bent his knees then launched himself towards his opponent. Seifer easily dodged the oncoming attack and brought down his own sword to parry Squall's. Their swords remained locked for a few seconds before Seifer pushed back and quickly arced his weapon around and hit Squall square in the ribs with enough force to knock him down. Squall winced at the impact but quickly rolled to his feet and was about to sneak another attack towards Seifer.

"Hit! Seifer keep your weapon, Squall tag out." Cid calmly called out. Squall yelled out in frustration and started to walk towards the group of children watching.

"You're getting weak, Leonhart." Seifer scoffed as Squall walked past. If Squall heard the cocky blonde, his face betrayed no emotion as he continued walking. Not one to be ignored Seifer continued his insults.

"Nothing, eh? Going to wait until you're all alone and go sulk in a corner? Gonna cry over Sis again like the big baby you are?" He taunted at the boy's back. The last comment had clearly struck a nerve, stopping Squall dead in his tracks. He dropped the wooden sword into the sand and flung himself towards the blonde. Before any contact was made, however, Squall was roughly halted by Cid.

"Enough. Go to the other children." The kind man spoke in a soft but firm manner to the brown haired boy, gently pushing him away from Seifer. Squall's fists were shaking but he complied. The other children made room as he stood by them, his stormy eyes livid.

"Rinoa, my dear, you are up." Cid called out to the girl enouragingly.

Dark eyes widened as Rinoa looked nervously between Squall and Seifer. She scurried over to where the wooden sword lay in the sand and carefully picked it up. Slowly she walked over to Seifer so that she stood across from him. She noted the swirled patterns in the sand from the previous fight she had just witnessed and finally brought her timid gaze up to a pair of amused green eyes watching her.

Tightening her grip on the wooden object, she opted to copy the stance she had seen Squall take earlier. This seemed to entertain Seifer as he let out a chuckle, his eyes still studying her, daring her to make the first move. She wanted to be brave and strong. To prove to the other kids that she fit in here or maybe to prove something to herself. That she was capable of being someone of worth. But Rinoa was scared. Something about Seifer unnerved her.

"Are you gonna stand there admiring my good looks all day, Princess, or are we gonna fight?" He called out to her, his grin widening.

There was that nickname again. She could feel the color rising to her cheeks. Sure, Seifer had nicknames for everyone but hers hurt because it rang true. Rinoa had heard what some of the other children had whispered about her behind her back. They knew she had to be from money with her bag of fancy things and her bumbling through the daily chores. They thought she was useless and would probably never get adopted. A spark was lit inside her.

Rinoa ran towards Seifer, the sand making her feet extra clumsy. She slashed sloppily at her target, fueled by her emotions. He easily side stepped her frenzied attack and swung his sword back in retaliation. Rinoa froze in fear and clamped her eyes shut, bracing for the hit. A few seconds had passed but nothing came. She ginergly opened one eye and saw that he had stopped his sword mere inches from her face. Dark eyes looked past his weapon and shot Seifer a look of confusion.

"You should find yourself a knight in shining armor, Princess, because you can't fight worth a damn." The cocky boy gloated and tapped her softly on the forehead.

"Hit!" Cid yelled out, "Okay I think that's enough for today. If you have a weapon, return it to me. Free time until dinner. Dismissed!"

As Rinoa and Seifer trudged through the sand towards Cid, Rinoa felt the need to defend herself. "I don't need a knight. You all have been doing this longer than I have and had more practice. I...I could be just as good as you are at fighting someday!" She stammered out.

He let out a hearty laugh, "Oh man, that's a good one. Wait, you actually believe yourself?" Seifer paused and stared at the determined girl in disbelief, then proceeded to laugh even harder. "I think you may be even dumber than Chicken-wuss."

Rinoa handed the wooden sword back to Cid and angrily ran off. Seifer was so infuriating! She could feel tears pricking the corners of her eyes as she ran, the wind adding to the sting. Not wanting anyone to see her cry, she ran to the end of the beach towards the lighthouse. She stopped abruptly at the door to catch her breath. Glancing behind her, she watched the other children giggling and playing with one another on the sandy shore. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to be cut off from everyone. She pulled open the door and quickly shut it behind her. Now she could be completely and utterly, alone.

Except she wasn't alone.

"Matron?" Rinoa asked tentatively. One because she didn't know if it were against the rules for her to even be at the lighthouse and two because it looked like the older woman had been doing some crying herself.

"Oh...hello Rinoa," the elegant woman said brushing her tears away and then patted the seat beside her. As the young girl sat down, Matron studied her face and then tenderly wiped Rinoa's tears from her eyes. "I see you've been crying too."

Rinoa shifted uncomfortably, placing her hands underneath her thighs, unsure of what to say.

Matron stared ahead and her eyes glazed over, as if she was lost in her own thoughts. When she spoke, her voice sounded far away. "Have you ever had something so unbelievable happen to you, that you had to remind yourself it was even real? And then to have this unbelievable event become the basis of not only your present but your future as well..."

Rinoa pondered the older woman's words. She supposed the last month she had spent at the orphanage could fit that description. One day she woke up with no recollection of how she ended up in such a strange place and yet here she was preparing for a future, her future, which it seemed she had no control over.

"Do you believe in fate, my child?" Matron asked, as if reading her thoughts. She was now facing Rinoa, her dark eyes staring intently at her.

Rinoa wanted desperately to believe in fate. Rinoa's late mother, Julia, had read every sappy fairy tale under the moon to her as young child and filled her head with noble notions. To always be a good person and you would be rewarded justly. However, in Rinoa's short time spent in the world she was quickly learning that most often than not, real life didn't work that way.

"Not all stories have happy endings, unfortunately. But you can't escape your fate, no matter how hard you try. Ah, but that's enough about that for now I suppose. Why don't you tell me what's been on your mind?" Matron said her voice returning back to it's usual soothing tone.

At the sudden shift in Matron's demeanor, Rinoa felt slightly more at ease. She wasn't sure where the older woman had been going with the conversation, maybe she simply needed to get things off her chest? Since Matron had shared so much Rinoa thought it was only fair to be honest with her as well and began to explain her feelings of loneliness and alienation from the other children. "...and then Seifer laughed in my face." She trailed off, sadly.

Matron listened thoughtfully as Rinoa poured her hear out and responded earnestly, "I'm sorry the other children have made you feel that way. I do think you have a strong spirit, however, and that you can become strong like Seifer. You just need to put in the extra effort and I honestly believe you can do whatever you put your mind to."

At those words, the dark haired girl, smiled brightly. It sounded just like something her mother would have said to her. "Yeah, you really think so?" she asked excitedly.

"I know so, in fact I think you should train with Squall. I know he might seem unfriendly but he is a good boy and I think you could learn a lot from each other. It may take some convincing on your part but I believe in you." Matron said enouragingly with a wink at the younger girl.

Finally! Someone who believed in her. Filled with renewed hope, Rinoa was beaming. "Thank you so much Matron! I'll make you proud!" She sat up and skipped over to the lighthouse door. She opened it but paused turning back to look at the older woman, and said quietly, "Matron, I hope this event that happened to you, even though it was bad, ends up leading you to a happy ending."

"Thank you, Rinoa. I certainly hope so too." Matron replied back with a smile.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello! Sorry about the delay in updating, had a lot going on the past few weeks between working on my costume for comic con and baking things for people but I'm baaack. Hope people are still reading this. I should be able to update more frequently now so don't give up on me already. Thanks for reading! Until next time! :)

**Lighthouse**

_Chapter 4_

Inspired by Matron's kind words, Rinoa scanned the horizon looking for her target but found that Squall wasn't anywhere in sight. As she walked along the beach towards the orphanage with a lighter spring in her step, Selphie noticed her from a distance and ran up to the dark haired girl.

"Heyyy! I was lookin' for you when the lesson ended. Sorry, Seifer can be a real jerk." Selphie said apologetically but quickly brightened, "Why don't you come and play with us? We're pretending to be train robbers!"

Rinoa smiled back at the friendly girl, "Thanks but I'm actually on a mission of my own. Do you know where Squall is? I need to talk to him."

The excitable girl's green eyes sparkled, "Ohhhh a mission, huh? That sounds so cool! Can I help? Well not with the talking to Squall part. Good luck with that one but I'll help you find him. Let's pretend we are detectives and question people!" With that Selphie pretended to put on a hat and hold a pad of paper in one hand. "I know! I'll ask Irvy, him and Squall talk sometimes!" She said, running towards the tall boy with the brown ponytail.

"Wait!" Rinoa called out, running to catch up with the other girl. "This...well...it's kind of a _secret_ mission so...maybe I'll ask the questions?" She said shyly, staring at the ground.

"Hmm...suit yourself." Selphie shrugged, but continued pretending to hold the imaginary pad of paper. However, once they had reached the boy, she seemed to have forgotten to let Rinoa ask the questions first. "Irvine! Where were you on the night of the 10th!?" She called out accusingly.

"I...wait what?" Irvine looked from Selphie to Rinoa, confusion behind his dark blue eyes.

Selphie continued the charade, scribbling furiously on her non-existant notepad. "Uh-huh! A likely story...and what is this, I see?" The auburn haired girl moved closer to Irvine, retrieving an invisible magnifying glass from her front pocket, she eyed the bottom of his shirt suspiciously. "Just as I suspected! Blood stains! You killed Mr. Squiggles with a wrench in the laundry room!"

"Ummmm...oh! Oh, yes! It was me, Detective Ace Briggs. You are good, I will admit that but are you as fast on your feet as you are with your brain?!" He called out wildly and ran away from Selphie, yelling back at her. "Come and catch me if you can!"

"Hey, not so fast criminal! Come on partner, he's getting away!" Selphie tugged at Rinoa's arm.

Rinoa shook her head, "I'm ummm going to head back to the office to uhh start the paperwork." She giggled as she watched Selphie run after Irvine. They were fun, maybe after she found Squall she would join them in their game. Once she had made her way back inside the orphanage, she looked around the main room. Several children were inside quietly reading or playing with toys. Her dark eyes landed on Quistis who was curled up in a corner engrossed in a book. She sat by the window and the sunlight shining in bounced brightly off of her blonde pigtails. Quistis looked up and noticed Rinoa across the room. _'Better not ask her about Squall. She gets weird about it.' _The dark haired girl thought to herself and decided to smile and wave instead. Quistis smiled politely back and immersed herself once more in her book. _'Hmm...not here either...'_

After checking everywhere she could think of inside the orphanage to no avail, the determined girl decided to go out the front door. To her right she noticed a beautiful field sprinkled with pastel hues of flowers. Admiring the scenery, she caught two figures in the distance. Thinking one may be Squall, she decided to approach them. As she neared, she realized it was actually Seifer and Zell, who were fighting...yet again.

"Not sure why you thought this was a good idea. You're no hero, Chicken-wuss." Seifer said and added, almost sounding concerned, "You know he wouldn't do the same for you."

"That doesn't matter!" Zell cried out, his face red and sweaty, "He's my friend and so was Sis. I'm...I'm defending her honor!" He threw a few more punches in Seifer's direction, which the other boy easily side stepped.

The two boys were so engrossed in their fight, they didn't notice Rinoa walking towards them. And they definitely missed her tripping over something in the long grass, falling, and landing face first on the ground.

"Ouch! That must've been a HUGE ro-" Rinoa stopped mid sentence when she found herself face to face with a pair of surprised grey-blue eyes. "Squall! I-" She was interrupted yet again when he placed his hand over her mouth. With his free hand, he placed a finger over his own lips, signaling her to be quiet. Her large eyes widened at the contact but she nodded to show she understood and he removed his hand from her lips. They listened, hidden underneath the tall grass and flora.

"Ohhh I get it. You had the hots for her! Well if that's the case, it's Squall you should be fighting then. I bet he'd be pissed at you for even daring to think of his Sis that way!" Seifer taunted.

"Ugh, that's not it! You just...don't...get..it!" Zell shouted back, his last words punctuated by punches and kicks.

"Don't get what? Wait...don't tell me. It's Squall you secretly have the hots for?" Seifer started laughing hysterically.

"WHAT?!" Zell exploded and managed to connect a solid hook to the side of Seifer's head, knocking the taller boy back a few steps. Both boys stopped and looked a bit shocked, staring at one another. Zell took a deep breath and then quietly spoke, "You don't get it because you only care about yourself. You don't know anything about friendship. Maybe Squall wouldn't have done the same for me but that doesn't matter. I consider him my friend and I will do what's right."

With that, the smaller boy walked away leaving a very confused Seifer behind. A few moments passed, then Seifer also left the flower field muttering to himself, "Who needs friends, anyways?"

During the fight, Rinoa had kept her eyes on Squall trying to watch for his reaction to Zell's words. His face remained emotionless but she could have sworn she saw a flicker of something behind those stormy eyes. After Seifer left, the brooding boy sat up and looked off into the distance. Seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

"Why didn't you help him?" Rinoa asked. He looked to her then, large dark eyes boring into him. He shrugged in reply. The messy haired boy wanted to turn away from her and lose himself once more in his head but her gaze held him there.

Rinoa persisted, "But he's your friend! He was defending you and your sister! How could you just listen and do nothing?"

Squall felt a pang of guilt but would not let the girl see. By now the mask of indifference was back in place. "I never asked him to do anything for me. What he does is his own business." He said coldly, and stood up to walk away.

"You're a coward!" Rinoa's voice rang out in the empty field of flowers, her words cutting through him like a knife. He turned around, the mask slipping, his expression a mixture of shock and anger.

"All you do is mope around and snap at anyone that tries to get close to you. There are people here that seem to really care about you and this is how you treat them?" She continued, now glaring at him.

Squall's expression darkened and he began walking back towards her agressively, "Excuse me?" He hissed, between clenched teeth. "Who are you to talk? Who are you to say anything at all? You don't know anything about me!"

They were face to face once more now, this time glaring at one another. The sun was starting to set and the sky looked like it was on fire. The deep colors reflected off of the young girl's milky white skin, giving her an unearthly appearance. Her expression softened and those beautiful dark eyes stared right through him.

"What are you so afraid of?" Rinoa asked him gently and something inside him broke. How could this girl he barely knew see past his facade? Where everyone else thought he was the one to be afraid of, really it was him that was scared. Squall couldn't look her in the eye anymore. He was too embarrassed by how much her words had affected him.

They stood in silence, when suddenly she became shy. Placing her hands behind her back and drawing circles on the ground with her toe, she spoke again. "I was actually looking for you, you know..." she began quietly, "I...um...was wondering if you'd train me. I'd like to get good enough to beat Seifer one day."

Squall almost laughed, he certainly wasn't expecting to hear that from her. "I can barely beat him myself. Sometimes when I do, I think I just get lucky." He smirked at her.

Was he smiling? No, not quite but close enough. "Hmm...I think you should give yourself a little more credit, Squall. Who knows, maybe fighting me will help you out too!" Rinoa said, grinning at him.

"Not likely. Though if I ever need lessons on tripping over things, you will be the first person I come to." He said solomnly and began walking towards the cottage.

"What the! Hey, there is a personality in there! So what's your answer?" The dark haired girl called out.

"I'll think about it, right now I'm hungry. I'd hurry back if I were you, before Zell gets a chance to eat everything." With that he began sprinting towards the orphanage. Rinoa smiled and ran after him.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello again! Apologies for the delay in updating. Kind of lost my steam on the direction this story is taking so sadly this may be the last time I update this one unless inspiration strikes. I still have a lot of ideas for other Squall and Rinoa stories but if I ever get around to actually writing them only time will tell. Fairytale of Odin that Rinoa references is based off of someone else's story here, I can't recall who but if someone knows I'll gladly post credit. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read and if I do continue writing in the future I hope to hear from you again. Take care, friends! :)

**Lighthouse**

_Chapter 5_

Rinoa twirled the now withering flower between her index finger and thumb, replaying the previous day's events in her mind. She wasn't exactly sure how to handle things with Squall from here. He seemed to let her in a little but was still very shy or possibly ignoring her, it was difficult to tell with him. He never gave her a definite answer about training with her either, but she didn't want to push too hard. She had a bad track record of trying to be helpful but causing problems because of it. One time her father had won her a goldfish from the fair. It had its own, nice and cozy bowl on top of her nightstand beside her bed. After a few days, she had decided her poor fishie was lonely and should make friends with the other fish in the big aquarium in the living room. Sadly, the fish in the big tank were not so friendly after all and what was left of the goldfish, was belly up the following day. Rinoa shuddered, remembering watching the other fish tearing at his remains. Poor Angelo.

"Heeey Riiiinn!" A chipper voice called out, bringing her back to the present.

She hastily put the dying flower back in the tissue box and shoved it under her bed. Rinoa stood up quickly and turned around to see Zell strolling in. "Hey, Zell!" she called back cheerfully, "What's up?"

The perky blonde started fidgeting, "Well...uh...it's me and Quisty's turn to help make food for everyone but I kinda kept messing up so she suggested I find another person to help..." he began.

Rinoa stopped him there, "I'd love to Zell, but I'm probably not the best person to ask."

"It was between you, Seifer, and Squall...I already asked Squall but I don't think he heard me..."

_'Or more like he ignored you, the jerk.' Rinoa thought to herself._

"...and I really don't want to ask Seifer for anything." Zell looked at her sheepishly.

The raven haired girl smiled at him, "Ok, I'll help but you owe me!" she winked and high fived him after his leap for joy at her answer. She followed the bouncy boy back into the kitchen. Quistis nodded in acknowledgement to her as they walked past. Rinoa noticed the tall blonde was precisely chopping vegetables into perfectly cut portions.

"Wow, Quistis, is there anything you aren't good at?" Rinoa mused out loud.

The girl, stopped chopping briefly, then quirked an eyebrow up behind her glasses and stated, "I guess giving orders." She then threw an amused look at Zell. It took the hyperactive boy a moment but then he caught on and gave an indignant 'hey!'. To which both girls looked at one another and giggled. Putting her serious face back on Quistis then filled Rinoa in on the task she was helping Zell with, which was baking chocolate chip cookies. Rinoa thought it seemed simple enough, unfortunately she was mistaken. Between the two of them several mishaps took place, eggs were dropped and batter was all over the counter but they had finished relatively unharmed. That was until Zell attempted an outrageous victory pose, knocking the mixing bowl on top of Rinoa who was on the floor trying to clean.

"Ouch! Zell! I'm going to kill you!" Rinoa yelled, her voice reverberating around in the metal bowl. She felt the bowl being removed from her head and the heavy dough was peeled away from her face. To her surprise she didn't see the apologetic face of the blonde haired boy but instead Squall's wry smile. Rinoa merely stared at him for a moment but her shock quickly turned into annoyance at his amusement at her expense. "You know, I wouldn't be covered in dough if a certain SOMEBODY had just decided to help his friend." She muttered under her breath but loud enough for his ears to catch.

Squall's expression softened briefly but the playful glint quickly returned to his eyes. He removed another stray piece of dough from her cheek, this time popping it into his mouth. "But you guys did such a good job."

Rinoa felt the color rise to her cheeks. "What are we going to do now? We don't have enough ingredients to make another batch." She whined ignoring Squall's jab.

The messy haired boy peeled another chunk of dough, this time from her chin and ate it. "Still tastes good to me." He smirked at her.

Then Zell moved forward and mirrored Squall's actions, peeling a piece of dough from her face as well and eating it. "Actually, Rin, he's right. It totally tastes fine!" He nodded his head in approval.

Rinoa, now completely scarlet, huffed dramatically. "Will you two stop eating dough off my face! It's weird!"

A knife clattered in the background. All three children turned around to see Quistis who was also very red in the face. She stared back between Squall and Rinoa with her mouth agape. Tears started to form in her eyes and the usually collected blonde's face began to scrunch up. Quickly she turned and ran out of the room, bursting into tears.

An awkward silence followed, as the trio stared after her. Zell quietly said while rubbing the back of his head, "Geez. I didn't think she'd be so upset over cookies. I...uh...should we just make them so she doesn't get more mad at us?"

"Shouldn't someone go talk to her and make sure she's alright?" Rinoa said softly.

Zell's shoulders slumped forward. "I guess it should be me. It's my fault we're eating dirty cookies." He said while slowly dragging his feet in the direction that Quistis took. Rinoa was about to say it should be her instead, when Squall spoke.

"Leave her be. Let's finish the task at hand first. I'll finish what Quistis started, you two can bake the cookies." He said in a quiet but firm voice.

Rinoa looked to him questionably, he stared back with a cool resolve. She sighed in defeat and began rolling the cookie dough into balls. _'Maybe he's right. I'm probably the last person Quistis wants to talk to anyways...' Rinoa thought to herself._

The rest of the day was uneventful. Rinoa found herself trying to make eye contact with Quistis during dinner to gauge if she was approachable enough to speak to yet. Instead she caught Squall's gaze who noticed what she was up to and shot her a warning look. She furrowed her brow and grumbled to herself, "Since when is he the master of feelings?"

"What did ya say?" Selphie said between bites of food.

"It's nothing..." Rinoa mumbled to her friend.

"Hey, is something going between you and Squall?" The perky brunette asked, looking sideways at the dark haired girl beside her.

Rinoa felt herself blushing for the second time today and hastily replied, "No...I-I don't know what you are talking about..."

Selphie rolled her eyes and shrugged feigning indifference, "Oh okay, I just know you were looking for him yesterday."

"Oh! Yeah that...I'm um...working on it..I guess." The pale girl's cheeks were now scarlet in color again as she tried to look completely engrossed in her plate of food.

"Mmm hmm..." Selphie answered back wearing a cheeky grin but prodded no further.

"I think I'm going to clean up, read for a bit, and head to bed. I'll catch you later, Selph!" Rinoa said feeling completely embarrassed. She hurriedly scooped up her dirty dishes, cleaned them, and headed to their sleeping area. Once in her nightgown, she snuggled deep into her covers and started a new chapter of one of her favorite stories her mother used to read to her. The story was about an honorable and brave knight named Odin who was madly in love with his childhood friend locked in a tower. At a young age, the fair maiden was discovered to have magical abilities. Fear getting the best of them, her village decided the fair lady should be locked away in a tower with several puzzles and deadly monsters to deter anyone from ever reaching her. Every day Odin tried to enter the tower to reach her, only to fail. He never gave up, was diligent in his training, and one day...

Rinoa woke with a start. Her nightgown stuck to her and the air around her felt thick. She had been dreaming, but about what she could not recall. She looked around in the darkness, all the other children were sleeping soundly. Carefully, she crawled out of her bed and went out the back door towards the beach. The cool, night air felt refreshing on her sticky skin. As she made her way towards the crashing waves of the ocean she stopped for a moment to look up at the sky. A million stars dotted the darkness above her. _'It's so...beautiful.' She thought as a soft sigh escaped her lips. _She was reminded of balcony attatched to her room back at home. She would spend hours staring up at the sky just like this, but the stars were different here. The sky was clearer and everything felt closer. Rinoa reached up as if to grab one of the twinkling objects in her small hand. The breeze suddenly picked up and blew her dark hair around her, tickling the sides of her face. She brought her hand down to tuck the stray tendrils behind her ear, when she caught a glimpse of something from the corner of her eye. Rinoa turned slowly and saw that it was Squall. They stood staring at one another for a moment with nothing but the sound of the crashing waves behind them. "Squall?" she said hesitantly, unsure of what to say. As if broken out of a trance, his expression hardened and he turned and ran. "Wait!" Rinoa called and ran after him. She found him hunched over a hole in the ground. Rinoa proceeded to walk towards him, "Squall, what are-"

"Stop." he said interrupting her and held his arms out protectively over the hole. Squall looked up at her. He seemed to be studying her with his intense gaze and finally he said, "Come over to my side, CAREFULLY." She looked at him puzzled but curious as to what his big secret was she followed his directions. Squall motioned for her to squat down next to him. She complied then peered into the hole. "Eggs!" She exclaimed gleefully, "Are they-"

"Sea turtle eggs." He finished proudly. The corner of his lips tugged at a smile. Then as if remembering he wasn't supposed to act happy, the expression vanished and was replaced by his usual scowl.

Rinoa's giddyness, however, was not deterred. "When did you find them? How long before they hatch? Where's their mother?" She rapidly began asking him questions.

He sighed and stayed quiet, as if he was pondering whether he should have shared his secret with the girl at all. He finally spoke, but it was soft and full of sadness, "Their mother left them. They're orphans." Squall lifted his head up to look into her pretty dark eyes that reflected the stars, "Just like us."

She felt a pang of guilt at the vulnerabilty she saw in those stormy eyes, but her heart soared at the realization that he had finally shared something real with her. Rinoa's hand found his and she gave him a small smile. They sat there underneath the starry sky in a comfortable silence, simply enjoying the the beauty that surrounded them for what it was. Some time had passed when Squall finally spoke in a soft, but firm tone. "I'll train you." He stated, his mind set.

Rinoa paused for a moment, turning to look at him before replying with a grin, "I knew you would."

To this he said nothing, but Rinoa swore in the dim moonlight she saw the ever stoic Squall Leonhart genuinely smile for her.


End file.
